Compare the two "Wuthering Heights" poems by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

        There is strong use of imagery in both of the poems. However in Hughes poem the imagery is more based on the things around him and of the landscape whereas Plath uses imagery to convey her innermost feelings to the reader. Huges gives a sense of the bleakness of the moors using his description of the area around him. “…Stonework- black, sky –blue and the moor wind flickering…” The image of black stonework and flickering wind gives the reader a sense of the bleak moors and the emptiness of the landscape, yet also conveys its wild beauty.  Hughes also uses the image of a “crumble of wall” to show how time has passed and the memory of Emily Bronte and her work is being forgotten. Plath uses the image of “the grass is beating its head” as a metaphor for her sense of madness. It seems to be a reference to mentally disturbed people, perhaps reflecting Plath’s state of mind. The imageof water “fleeing through my fingers” gives the reader the sense that Plath feels as if she is letting go of life or of sanity. Even the imagery of the sheep is rather disturbing. Plath personifies the sheep giving them a hard almost frightening appearance. “All wig curls and yellow teeth”. Both poets use Emily Bronte in their poems. Hughes has a fascination with her and describes her as “a dying prisoner.” Plath too uses Emily in her poem. She relates herself to Emily and the image of her being a prisoner. “Lintel and sill have unhinged themselves” is probably a reference to the windows that Emily watched the moors through. This image give the reader the sense that Sylvia Plath also feels trapped as Emily Bronte did.

        Both poets use repetition to give an impression of the emptiness of the surroundings. Plath’s description, as always, creates a negative view in the readers mind. “…It rehearses them moaningly: Black stone, Black stone”. This use of language gives the impression of ghosts, maybe referring to the ghost of Emily Bronte. In Huges poem his use of repetition creates a sense of a windy moor. The repletion almost sounding like the wind. The repletion of the word failed gives the reader the impression that the wind has come to chastise the character in the poem for thinking that they are as good a writer as Emily. Huges also uses rhetorical questions to bring the reader into the poem making it more personal. “Weren’t you twice as ambitious as Emily?”

        Ted Huges poem is far longer in length than Plath’s. It consists of several long stanzas similar to a story. The poem definitely gives the impression of a story rather than a piece of poetry and its structure suggests this. Huges uses long sentences in order to keep the impression of story telling and also to give the poem a softer rhythm. This again serves to give the reader the feeling that they are being told a story. Plath’s poem uses five short stanzas. The lines are short giving the poem a quicker pace and give the poem a mad, almost disparate feel. Short sentences in the poem make certain phrases stand out. Emphasising them and helping to add to the feel of depression. “The darkness terrifies it”.

        Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath both wrote poems that seem to bring to life their thoughts and feelings on the moors. Their use of description is able to create an image in the reader’s mind of the surroundings. Plath is able to share her deepest feelings through the poem with her use of imagery as a metaphor for her feelings. Hughes creates a sense of a wild place yet a beautiful one. Although the poems are similar in their use of description to create an effect on the reader, they also differ in the meaning of the poem and the tone of each is very different. Hughes is in awe of Emily Bronte whereas Plath seems to relate to her as she relates to the landscape within the poem, the landscape becoming a metaphor for herself.